Public transit, cheap housing on planning group's wish list

Thursday

May 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMMay 29, 2008 at 1:59 AM

Given the power to steer state policy over the next two decades, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council would improve affordable housing and public transportation, foster development near public transportation, and encourage people to live healthier lifestyles.

Lindsey Parietti andJohn P. Kelly/Daily News staff

Given the power to steer state policy over the next two decades, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council would improve affordable housing and public transportation, foster development near public transportation, and encourage people to live healthier lifestyles.

Those were among 65 sweeping goals the council unveiled last year and officially adopted yesterday as part of its MetroFuture plan for Greater Boston development through 2030.

But some local officials who participated in strategy workshops at the Omni Parker House made it clear they have little power to actually make any of the changes.

"I have seen it over and over again," the Natick resident said. "I've seen all these great ideas being talked about, yet when push comes to shove, when special-interest groups and unions come toward legislators saying, 'This will affect your electability,' we always end up with a less than desirable result."

At 83 pages long, the MetroFuture plan is a layercake of strategies and goals for controlling growth in the 101 cities and towns that make up Greater Boston. It calls for "smart growth" residential development to be concentrated in downtowns and near transportation hubs to unclog roadways and boost use of public transportation. Such targeted development, the plan notes, will help towns avert water shortages and vanishing green space, two unwanted byproducts of suburban sprawl.

Big visions abound in the plan: polluted land would be converted to green parks, the region would have an abundance of smaller, more affordable homes, fewer segregated neighborhoods would exist, and homelessness would all but vanish. Even residents' health would improve, according to the plan, because interconnected bicycle paths and sidewalks would lead to more physical activity.

"No one could accuse us of making a small plan," Marc Draisen, executive director of the council, said. "Tinkering around the edges won't work."

Roughly 200 people gathered yesterday to brainstorm how to reach these goals. Discussion, while wide-ranging, focused on a need for regional partnerships and planning.

For example, towns could save money by partnering to buy in bulk everything from office supplies to heavy machinery. Health departments could be combined and waste-hauling and emergency-dispatch services handled regionally.

To meet the region's housing needs 349,000 new units by 2030 the plan encourages communities to make zoning changes to encourage developers to build smaller homes, clustered developments and more accessory apartments.

Framingham Selectman Ginger Esty, who also serves on the council's executive board, said a lot of ideas were thrown around at a strategy session on housing, "some of them practical and some of them not."

"It was all general planning," she said. "Nothing revolutionary came out of it."

Even as the council plans to finalize its recommendations this fall, one refrain echoing through the different workshops was a need for stronger political support.

Only two lawmakers attended the morning session, State Rep. Denise Provost, D-Somerville, and state Sen. Pam Resor, D-Acton. A handful of other legislators sent aides, but most in the crowd were municipal planners, local elected officials, and public policy lobbyists.

Resor said after the event that the goals were all very ambitious and admirable, but would not be easily achieved.

"I think so many of them we're taking baby steps toward already," she said.

GateHouse staff John Kelly and Lindsey Parietti can be reached at jkelly@ledger.com and lindsey.parietti@cnc.com

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